Three years ago, the Pew Research Center released a study detailing the depths of partisan polarization across the country. A follow-up study released this fall found that, since the election of President Trump, those divisions are even worse. Given the impeachment inquiry unfolding in Washington, things are almost certain to deteriorate further.
These divisions represent one of the great political challenges of these times, though there appears to be no immediate answer. Politics has become steadily more poisonous and the stakes with each election increase as fears of “the other side” having power course through the electorate. People talk longingly about restoring civility or returning to an earlier time. Little suggests that could happen soon. CONT.
Dan Balz, Washington Post